Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Muslim / Sufi

13th Century

About Mahmud Shabistari

Timeline (1250? - 1340)

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English version by
Florence Lederer

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

A Drop of Seawater (from The Secret Rose Garden)

Themes

Sky

Water

Recommended Books

	Beyond Faith and Infidelity: The Sufi Poetry and Teachings of Mahmud Shabistari, Edited by Leonard Lewisohn
	Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from the Sufi Wisdom, by Andrew Harvey / Eryk Hanut
	The Secret Rose Garden: Mahmud Shabistari, Translated by Florence Lederer / Edited by David Fideler

Behold how this drop of seawater
has taken so many forms and names;
it has existed as mist, cloud, rain, dew, and mud,
then plant, animal, and Perfect man;
and yet it was a drop of water
from which these things appeared.
Even so this universe of reason, soul, heavens, and bodies,
was but a drop of water in its beginning and ending.

...When a wave strikes it, the world vanishes;
and when the appointed time comes to heaven and stars,
their being is lost in not being.

-- from The Secret Rose Garden: Mahmud Shabistari, Translated by Florence Lederer / Edited by David Fideler

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

About Mahmud Shabistari

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World